Why legal documents alone are not enough, and what current Australian research tells us about planning ahead
End-of-life planning is about far more than preparing a Will.
It can include legal documents, future health care wishes, financial and practical information, funeral preferences, care arrangements, important contacts, digital accounts and the information loved ones may need if something happens.
Yet many Australians still have significant gaps in their planning.
Recent Australian research shows that advance care planning remains far from routine. At the same time, many practical parts of life planning are not captured by legal documents at all.
That leaves families trying to work out what exists, where things are, who needs to be contacted and what the person would have wanted, often during an already difficult time.
What End-of-Life Planning Actually Includes
A complete approach to end-of-life planning can involve several different areas.
Legal Planning
Legal planning may include:
- a valid Will
- estate planning
- powers of attorney or equivalent decision-making arrangements
- guardianship arrangements where relevant
- superannuation nominations
- other legal documents appropriate to your circumstances
The names and legal effect of these documents vary between Australian states and territories, so legal advice may be appropriate when preparing or reviewing them.
Advance Care Planning
Advance care planning allows you to think about and communicate your values, preferences and wishes for future health care.
Depending on where you live in Australia, this may involve an Advance Care Directive, appointing a substitute decision-maker or completing other jurisdiction-specific documents.
The Australian Government notes that Advance Care Directives differ between states and territories, including the forms and terminology used.
Personal Wishes
Planning may also include things that do not belong in a Will or formal legal document, such as:
- funeral or memorial preferences
- letters or video messages for loved ones
- personal wishes
- people you would like contacted
- important personal information your family may otherwise not know
Practical Information
There is also the enormous practical side of life that families may need to deal with.
This can include:
- care of your children, pets or continuity of care for someone you care for
- bank and financial account information
- insurance policies
- household bills
- utilities
- subscriptions
- memberships
- digital accounts
- vehicles
- property information
- important documents and where they are stored
- professional contacts
- people or organisations that need to be notified
Legal documents do an important job, but they do not usually contain this broader practical information.
What the Australian Research Tells Us
One of the clearest current indicators comes from research into advance care planning.
In 2025, Advance Care Planning Australia released the results of a national study involving 3,390 Australian adults.
The study found that only one in three Australians, or 33%, had taken steps to plan for their future health care.
Importantly, the study took a broader view of advance care planning rather than looking only at whether someone had completed a formal document. It also considered whether people had spoken with loved ones, chosen substitute decision-makers and thought about their future health care preferences.
That makes the figure particularly useful because it reflects planning behaviour, not simply paperwork.
Earlier Australian research also highlighted gaps in formal documentation.
A multicentre audit of 2,285 health records from general practices, hospitals and residential aged care facilities found that approximately 29.8% of older participants had at least one Advance Care Directive recorded in their health record.
That study was conducted across selected health and aged care settings and should not be interpreted as representing the entire Australian population. However, it demonstrated that even among older Australians accessing health and aged care services, formal documentation was far from universal.
What Happens When There Is No Will?
If a person dies without a valid Will, they are said to have died intestate.
The estate is then distributed according to the intestacy laws applying in the relevant state or territory rather than according to instructions left in a Will.
For example, in Queensland, the Succession Act 1981 sets out how an intestate estate is distributed and who may be entitled to receive it.
The exact rules differ across Australia, which is another reason legal planning should not be treated as a one-size-fits-all process.
A Will therefore remains an essential part of planning, but it is only one part.
The Gap Legal Documents Do Not Fill
Even someone with a current Will and Advance Care Directive may leave their family with hundreds of practical questions.
- Are the children you are now caring for allergic to anything?
- Where are the insurance policies?
- Which utilities need to be cancelled?
- What subscriptions exist?
- How do I care for the pet?
- Which accountant, solicitor or financial adviser should be contacted?
- What online accounts exist?
- Where are important documents stored?
- What bills are automatically deducted?
- Who should be notified?
- What personal wishes have never been formally documented?
This is where practical end-of-life planning becomes important.
There is no single legal document designed to record every practical aspect of a person’s life.
Without an organised system, this information may instead be spread across filing cabinets, email accounts, phones, notebooks, drawers and someone’s memory.
Why People Put Planning Off
People delay end-of-life planning for many reasons.
For some, death simply feels too far away to worry about.
Others may believe that having a Will means everything has been dealt with.
There may also be:
- discomfort discussing death
- uncertainty about where to begin
- concerns about legal costs
- confusion about what documents are required
- reluctance to share private information
- a belief that family members will simply know what to do
The problem is that illness, injury and death do not always provide convenient advance notice.
Planning is therefore not only about preparing for death. It can also help if someone becomes temporarily unable to manage their own affairs because of illness, hospitalisation or another health event.
Privacy and Security Matter Too
Getting organised should not mean placing every sensitive detail in one location.
Passwords and other sensitive access information require greater protection than ordinary household or planning information.
The aim is simple: make important information easier for the right person to locate without unnecessarily exposing everything in one document.
So when preparing all of your end-of-life planning information, ensure to keep security of that information in the forefront of your mind.
End-of-Life Planning Is Really About Reducing Uncertainty
Planning ahead does not remove grief. It does not prevent difficult decisions. And it does not guarantee that every situation will unfold exactly as expected.
What it can do is reduce unnecessary uncertainty.
A family who knows where important documents are stored, who needs to be contacted, what accounts exist, how children and pets need to be cared for and what wishes have been expressed is in a very different position from a family starting with nothing. That is the practical value of planning.
A More Complete Approach
A useful end-of-life plan brings together three broad areas:
Legal planning
Documents such as Wills and relevant decision-making arrangements.
Personal wishes
Information about what matters to you, including funeral preferences, care wishes and messages for loved ones.
Practical information
The everyday details needed to manage or finalise your affairs and continue care of children and pets if applicable.
Together, these three planning pillars provide a far more complete picture than relying on legal documents alone.
Final Thoughts
Current Australian research shows that advance care planning remains uncommon, with only around one-third of Australians taking steps to prepare for future health care decisions.
But health care planning is only one part of the bigger picture.
End-of-life preparation also means making sure the people who may one day need to step in can understand what exists, where important information is located and what matters to you.
Handbook of Your Life provides professionally printed planning kits tailored to different life circumstances, with a dedicated kit for singles, couples, couples with children, single parents, carers, and health events. Each Handbook kit also includes the 2DocLock™ Security System, designed to help protect sensitive information.
Planning ahead is not about expecting the worst. It is about making things clearer for the people who may one day need to act on your behalf.
References
- Advance Care Planning Australia: Advance Care Planning Prevalence in Australia. National prevalence study, 2025.
- Advance Care Planning Australia: New research reveals most Australians unprepared for future health care decisions. Published June 2025.
- Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Advance care directive. Information on Advance Care Directives and differences between Australian states and territories.
- BMJ Journals: Prevalence and correlates of advance care directives among older Australians accessing health and residential aged care services: multicentre audit study. BMJ Open, 2019.
- Queensland Public Trustee: About deceased estates. Information on Wills, intestacy and administration of deceased estates.
- Queensland Government: Succession Act 1981. Current Queensland legislation covering Wills and intestacy.
